Hanger for mops, brooms, garden tools and similar handled tools



Dec. 19, 1961 HANGER FOR H. L. BOSTON 3,013,756 MOPS, BROOMS, GARDEN TOOLS AND SIMILAR HANDLED TOOLS Filed June 19, 1959 I: I I {1 23 /2- l3 INVENTOR- ATT NEYS.

3 013,756 HANGER FOR MOPSjBROOMS, GARDEN T9015 AND SIMILAR HANDLED TOGLS Harold L. Boston, 85 Old Dyke Road, Trumbull, Conn. Filed June 19, 1959, Ser. No. 821,514 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-113) This invention relates to a hanger for mops, brooms, garden tools and similar handled tools, and has for an object to provide a hanger for such articles in which the handle of the tool may be quickly and easily inserted in the holder with a single simple operation, and as easily removed from the holder.

It is also an object to provide such a holder in which the handle is gripped and held in such a way there is no danger of its becoming loose and falling from the holder.

Another object is to provide a holder which is of extremely simple construction and comprises a minimum number of parts, and also requires a minimum of space on the face of a wall or other support on which it may be mounted.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification. It is, however, to be understood the invention is not limited to the specific details of construction and arrangement shown, but may embody various changes and modifications within the scope of the invention.

In this drawing:

P16. 1 is a front view of the holder on a reduced scale showing it in use in holding the handle of a tool to be supported;

FIG. 2 is a transverse section thereof on a full sized scale showing the holder applied to a wall, the section of the holder being substantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the holder;

FIG. 4 is an edge view looking from the right of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view, and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the roller removed from the body.

The device comprises a body member 10 which may be of any suitable sheet material, preferably sheet metal of suitable gauge or thickness bent to form the structure for holding the handle of a tool and the means for gripping this handle. Thus this body member comprises a rear wall 11, an upright edge wall 12 at one side edge thereof, and an inclined upright edge wall 13 at the opposite edge, this latter wall being inclined downwardly and inwardly toward the wall 12 so that the widest dis tance between them is at the top, and the least distance at the bottom of the body. Portions of the sheet metal may be cut out at the corners between the rear wall 11 and the side or edge walls 12 and 13, as shown at 14 and 15, to lighten or decrease the weight of the device, and also to make it easier to bend up the side walls 12 and 13 from the blank from which the body is formed. Thus the side walls 12 and 13 extend forwardly from the plane of the back wall 11 and at substantially right angles thereto, and leaving the front of the device entirely open for insertion or removal of a handle 16 of a tool to be held by the holder, as will presently be described. Means is provided whereby the device may be mounted on the front surface of a wall or other support 17, in the present case comprising counterbored screw holes 18 in the rear wall by which the device may be mounted on the wall 17 by means of suitable screws 1d.

The means for holding the handle 16 of the tool comprises a roller 29 mounted for vertical movement as well as certain lateral movement toward and from the side wall 12. For this purpose the rear wall 11 is provided with an inclined slot 21 parallel to the inclined wall 13, and the roller 20 is mounted on the stud or shaft 22,

3,013,756 Patented Dec. 19, 1961 "lee which is mounted for up and down movement longitudinally in this slot. This stud comprises a reduced body portion 23 between two flanges 24 and 25, and adjacent its inner end is provided with a peripheral groove or channel 26 spaced a short distance from the inner end of the stud providing a thin head 27 at this inner end. At the upper end of the slot 21 it is enlarged as indicated at 28 to a size to permit passage of the head 27 to bring the channel 26 into alignment with the opposite side edges of the slot 21 and then permit the stud to be slid into this slot with the edg s of the slot in this groove or channel 26. The width of the slot 21 is slightly larger than the diameter of the bottom of the groove 26 to permit free up and down movement of the stud in the slot.

Also to permit this free up and down movement and to prevent interference of the surface of the wall or support 17 with movement of the stud and the roller 20, a portion 29 of the rear wall 11 at the back of the slot 21 is offset forwardly, as indicated at 39, to provide a clearance 31 (FIG. 2) between this oiiset portion and the surface of the wall 17, which is somewhat greater than the thickness of the head 27 of the stud to provide clearance for this head and allow free movement of the stud.

Mounted on this stud or shaft on the reduced portion 23 is the roller 20 which may be of any suitable material, but is preferably a ring of rubber or other rubber like material which is somewhat yielding and resilient, and may be mounted by expanding it sufiiciently so it may be slipped over the flange 25 onto the reduced portion 23 between the flanges 24 and 25, and will contract sufiiciently to seat snugly on this reduced portion 23 and will be retained thereon by the flanges 24 and 25. This roller is of a diameter so that it rests against and is backed up or supported against outward movement by the in clined side wall 13 while running on this wall to different vertical positions.

It will be seen from this construction that the roller may be readily and easily mounted in the body by merely inserting the inner head 27 of the stud in the enlarged upper end portion 28 of the slot 21, to bring the groove or channel 26 into alignment with the side edges of this slot and then moving it down into the slot 21. In this position the roller is effectively held in the body and is capable of free up and down movement in the slot 21, while the roller runs along and is backed up or supported by the side wall 13. In placing a handle 16 of a tool in the holder, all that is necessary is to place the upper end of this handle at the lower end of the device between the roller 20 and the side wall 12 and slide it upward any distance desired. During this movement it will move the roller 20 upwardly a distance depending on the thickness or diameter of the handle 16, as indicated, for example, in FIG. 1. Then if the handle is released, the weight of the tool and the handle 10 will pull it down- .wardly, which will cause the roller 20 to also tend to move downwardly and due to the inclined arrangement of the slot 21 and the wall 13 will automatically clamp the handle 16 between the roller and the wall 12. The heavier the tool the greater will be the gripping and clamping action, so that there is no danger of the handle becoming accidentally loosened or the gripping and holding action of the roller released to permit the tool to drop from the holder. However, the handle may be quickly and easily removed from the holder by merely moving it upwardly a short distance and then shifting it forwardly out of the holder from its position between the roller and the wall 12. While in the clamping position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the roller engages and is backed up by the inclined side wall 13 so that the holding action is not between the stud and the sides of the slot 21.

Thus it will be seen that this device is of very simple construction, involving a minimum number of parts, only three in the arrangement shown, and that it may be readily mounted on the face of a wall or other support where it is desired to hang the tool; also that the insertion of the handle in the holder, or its removal therefrom, may be accomplished very quickly and with a simple Single operation; further that the roller may be easily and quickly mounted in or removed from the body for renewal or other purposes.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention I claim:

A hanger for handled tools comprising a body of sheet material including an upright back wall and forwardly extending side walls at the opposite upright edges thereof, the side wall at one edge being substantially vertical and that at the other edge inclined so its spacing from the first side wall varies with the greatest spacing at the top, the back wall provided with a slot parallel to the inclined side wall, a one-piece supporting stud provided with an annular groove spaced at short distance from its inner end slidable in said slot with the edges of the slot seated in said groove, the portions of said back wall on opposite sides of the slot offset forwardly from the plane of the remaining portion of said wall providing clearance for the inner end of the stud between said offset portion and the face of a wall on which said back wall is secured, the non-offset portion of the back wall provided with openings for securing means whereby it may be secured to a supporting wall, said one-piece stud provided with a reduced portion between longitudinally spaced flanges, and a tubular roller of rubber-like material of less internal diameter than said flanges and expandable to pass over one of the flanges to a position on said reduced portion between the flanges and running along the inner side of the inclined side wall and adapted to hold a tool handle between the roller and the vertical side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 120,818 Isham Nov. 14, 1871 2,540,034, Maxam Jan. 30, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,126,569 France July 30, 1956 

